Performing Arts

Live Theater

Located throughout town, Smithville boasts ten performing arts spaces, both indoor and outdoor, including school auditoriums and local venues.

The most active is Playhouse Smithville, 110 Main, a local blackbox community theater which performs 10 shows annually. See playhousesmithville.com

Live Music

Smithville has a rich musical tradition. West End Park was a major stop on the Chitlin Trail prior to desegregation. Local resident and nationally-known jazz trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe, who remembers the major artists who came through Smithville, carries on their musical legacy. Rap artist Robert Earl “DJ Screw” Davis, Jr. was born in Smithville and had his first studio here.

Today, live music of all kinds can be heard at the Olde World Bakery every Saturday afternoon, and local musicians grace the stage at virtually every event held on Main Street, in Riverbend Park and everywhere people gather.